But, musically it’s a tough sell and will often sound intrusive or out of place if not used carefully.

In this article, we’ll show you how to use it in the most optimal context.

Overusing Effects

Effects pedals are always a double edged sword.

They give you tremendous versatility with your instrument but, can easily overstay their welcome and cause the listening ear to grow weary. They can even ruin the reputation of a good guitarist who relies on them too heavily.

So if we have stompboxes or a digital effects processor, we’ve got the responsibility to learn how to use them correctly.

Especially when you’re dealing with saturating modulation effects.

The Phaser Pedal

Your phaser pedal is one such effect. Closely associated with the classic tape flange the phaser is, in simple terms, a series of peaks and troughs generated by all-pass filters, also called “stages.”

The number of stages will determine the number of notches or peaks that the phaser effect will produce.

This is why we’ve got to be deliberate about where we use this kind of effect. Though it’s not distorting our signal in the technical sense, it’s definitely changing it, which will impact our sound and the music being played.

We need to learn to use a phaser where it’s going to benefit what we’re playing; where it will optimize the melody or chords behind it.

Not understanding these nuances can hurt our reputation as a guitarist, annoy those we collaborate with and ultimately downgrade the maturity of our sound.

You can avoid all that and use your phaser pedal to make your playing better, because it has a purpose and a place where it’s most functional.

Let’s talk about those places.

What We’ll Cover

As the title implies, we’ll cover this topic in two portions.

Where a phaser effect fits and should be used.

Where a phaser effect doesn’t fit and should be avoided.

For the purpose of avoiding overuse, we’ll learn to recognize the type of music and the areas of a song where a phaser pedal might be a good fit.

We’ll also look at the segments of a song that don’t benefit.

Let’s jump in.

Where the Phaser Pedal Fits

The most accommodating genre of the phaser sound is modern rock.

Though it does find a home in pop, jazz, blues, classic rock and a number of musical subcategories, it’s primary use and relevance is in the post-grunge era of rock and roll.

Think 1995 and later.

Thus it’s going to be easier to implement if that’s the type of music you’re focusing on.

That’s not to say it can’t work elsewhere but, I’ve found that modern rock is where it becomes the most useful and functional.

1. Arpeggios with Three or Less Notes Per Chord

Particularly during a verse, if you have a chord progression that you can breakup into a light arpeggio, with three or less notes per chord, that can be an ideal spot for a phaser pedal.

Something like this open chord movement through G-F-B♭-C would work well.E|————————————————– B|——–3———–3——–3———–3——– G|—–0—–0—–0——–0—–0—–0—–0—– D|————————————————– A|———————–1———–3————– E|–3———–1——————————–3–

Generally, the less notes being used the more “effect-friendly” a pattern will be. A phaser will sound better when the melody behind it is less crowded, perhaps with only a few notes.

Remember this song?

Marcous Curiel (P.O.D’s guitarist) used the phaser sound a lot.

In Youth of the Nation, the pattern during the intro and verse is a great example of where the effect can work, though a delay pedal can also be heard.

If you slow down the rate or speed, you get that tonal depth without the fluctuating peaks and troughs.

They’re still there, but happening at a slow speed so that they’re not as noticeable.

So if your sound just needs that extra “something” the thickness of a slow phaser is worth trying.

4. Low Note Count Solos

Solos used to be about speed and volume. Now they’re more about melody and emotion.

I think that’s a good shift.

It’s also a shift that makes it easier to incorporate effects (other than heavy distortion) into our solos.

For any lead pattern that has a low note count, a phaser can be a good fit even alongside other effects.

The thickening quality that a phaser brings, along with the dynamic movement of the peaks and troughs give your solos more presence and should accentuate the melody if the notes are spread out far enough from each other.

At that point, your guitar is supposed to be more noticeable, so adding a thickening effect like a phaser will make sense.

Where the Phaser Sound Doesn’t Fit

Now let’s talk about where not to use a phaser.

In short, wherever you have a lot of strumming or a lot of notes close together, don’t even consider it.

The phaser’s sound does best when it’s allowed to ring. If the effect doesn’t ring out because of repeatedly fielding a signal from a plucked string on the guitar, your picking will be fighting the peaks and troughs of the phaser.

That’s going to make the rhythm of whatever you’re playing sound a bit off and your tone will sound like it’s fighting itself.

So anytime you have consecutive, rhythmic picking or strumming patterns, chances are good that a phaser won’t work.

1. Portions of a Song with Heavy Strumming

While we did make an exception earlier in this article, chords are generally a bad place for a phaser.

Picking several notes so close together means you’re starting a line of peaks and troughs every time you hit a string, which can quickly begin to sound ambigious.

Throw in a repetitive strumming pattern and the fluctuation of the effect becomes chaotic.

There might be times where that makes sense and you want to produce a chaotic sound.

Repetitive strumming patterns are better served by non-repeating effects like distortion, reverb or a clean signal.

2. High Note Count Solos

Sure, the guitar solo has changed, but there’s still plenty of speed play and shredding to go around.

And that isn’t likely to ever go away.

Nor should it.

But fast, busy solos aren’t commonly paired with the phaser effect. In fact, modulation effects as a whole are generally omitted from this type of playing.

One notable exception is Billy Corgan’s guitar solos on the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Cherub Rock” track. where he uses a slow flange effect. The sound is interesting and clean on the record, which gives that solo part of its memorability and unique appeal.

So modulation effects can work, but the speed and rate should be on the slower end and it shouldn’t be a common occurance.

Another thing to note is that the Smashing Pumpkins don’t use any other effect on that song.

Outside of a heavily distorted guitar, they keep it simple through most of the track.

That leaves room for the modulation once the solo kicks in.

So if you are going to use a heavy effect like a phaser, make sure you don’t overpopulate your song with effects that will drown out the music and tire out the listener.

Make your Effects Count

Effects are just fun.

Guitar players love to have them, even if it’s just for the pride of ownership. The temptation then is to use them just because we can, which can mean they fight our sound and end up being more of a distraction.

So be sure that your placement and usage of effects has a purpose and that it’s filling a void in your music.

If you use a phaser pedal, make it count.

Understand the effect for what it is and how it can help your sound.

Is your experience different?

Have you found that your phaser works in other areas, or fights your sound in ways that weren’t mentioned?

If you’ve had a different experience or more insight into using the effect, share it with us.

Could you use more gear help?

Producing “great tone” is a worthy pursuit, but not always an obvious one.

We all own a unique collection of gear that seems to sound different all the time. That’s normal, but still something we need to learn to deal with.

We need to learn our gear.

If you want to access some resources that will help dealing with a specific tonal pursuit, piece of gear or other questions related to your rig, I’d recommend giving Guitar Tricks 14-day free trial a test run – there’s no obligations and you’ve got nothing to lose – except two free weeks of one of the most comprehensive and thorough guitar education websites in existence.